TOP: PHOTOGRAPH BY MILES WEAVER / COURTESY OF MAMMOTH LAKES FILM FESTIVAL;
BOTTOM: PHOTOGRAPH BY J. GLOVER / COURTESY OF DEEP IN THE HEART FILM FESTIVALFESTIVAL BEAT
ing cinematic slate. There was
Monument, Polish director (and
winner of my section’s award in
2018) Jagoda Szelc’s bewitching
and bewildering tale of a group
of students whose internship at
a strange hotel descends into
delirium; there was No Exit, a
Twilight Zone-tinged social satire
made by American writer-director
Sarah Louise Wilson with an all-
Kazakh cast and crew; and there
was Cat Sticks, a stark, haunting de-
piction of addiction that immerses
audiences in the ebbs and flows of
one endless night in Calcutta.
MLFF’s great projection may be
taken for granted more than its
great programming, but it’s not
every day that a U.S. Forest Service
lodge is transformed into a formi-
dable film forum—one whose
consummate sound and picture
presentation enriched my enjoy-
ment of each film’s distinct world.
The expertly equipped auditorium
had me sticking around to visit
other worlds, too—a whole galaxy’s
worth, imagined by the myriad
moviemakers who showcased
their stuff in MLFF’s stellar shorts
blocks. One of my favorites deliv-
ered projection in a different,
yet equally absorbing manner:
Ryan Betschart and
Rachel Nakawatase’s “A Collection
of Attempts In Astral Travel” lulled
me into hypnosis with its abstract
riff on the paranormal practice
of astral projection, coated with
kaleidoscopic colors and adorned
with an oboe-inflected
original score. And, as if to enter
the void of light opened up by that
film, I reached into the cosmos a
little further still while watching
Matthew Wade’s “Eyes at the Specter
Glass,” a mesmerizing, space-bound
spectacle of light and sound that
moved with such patience and pul-
sated at such high frequency that I
worried the screen had developed a
mind of its own.
In the after-hours of the closing
night party, I at last hitched a ride
with some newfound friends to
Mammoth’s hot springs for a pitch-
dark dip. And as I wriggled my toesinto the thermal well’s scalding
clay floor, I wondered if maybe all
that cosmic curation was just prep-
ping me for my farewell to the fest:
one last round of star-gazing in the
best seat for miles, under the great
screen in the sky.
—Max WeinsteinDEEP IN THE HEART
FILM FESTIVAL 2019
Seminars on Super-8
shooting and tours through
the town’s top film locations
await Waco fest’s attendeesSomewhere between the
bluebonnets and magnolia trees,
a film festival is growing in Waco,
Texas. Celebrating its third year,
Deep in the Heart Film Festival
perfectly manages the challenges
of rapid growth while still main-
taining a small festival feel.
The brainchild of Samuel Thomas
and Louis Hunter, it’s a festival run
by moviemakers for moviemakers.
The purpose of DITH is to bring
members of the introverted film
community together to honor one
another. The focus isn’t on the
awards (that takes place quietly on
Sunday morning) but on celebrat-ing being selected into a festival
that only accepts a fraction of the
films submitted.
DITH’s shorts blocks are rated
and grouped with a central theme,
so you know what you’re getting
into. Want to see a “R”-rated block
with a monster theme? It’s on the
schedule. A “G”-rated block of kid
friendly films? No problem. My
neo-noir sci-fi film, Sonny Vicious,
was in the block “Our Twisted
World” of “unflinching films that
explore the darker side of life.”
And the fest isn’t just three
days of stellar films. Sprinkled
between the blocks is a series
of panels that allows aspiring
actors and moviemakers to hear
from industry leaders and glean
their secrets to success. The
“Acting in Texas” panel featured
Linda McAlister of the presti-
gious agency Linda McAlister
Talent, and a group of working
actors that have been featured
on such shows as Breaking Bad
and Murder Made Me Famous.
Kodak sponsored “The Super 8
Camera Workshop” that covered
a brief history of 8mm cameras,
what film stock is still available,
and a peek at the new 8mm cam-
era in development. Very retro,
and very cool.
For me, the highlight of DITH
was the Waco Location Tour,sponsored by the Waco Film Com-
mission. Forty or so movie-
makers rode around town looking
at diverse, film-friendly locations
—from a western village to the
gorgeous Oakwood Cemetery that
dates back to 1878. Waco wants
you to film in their city. They’ve
hosted Where the Heart Is with
Natalie Portman, The Tree of Life
with Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain,
and The Old Man & the Gun star-
ring Robert Redford. Fixer Upper,
one of the most popular shows on
HGTV, has almost single-handedly
revitalized their downtown.
Screenings at DITH are in the
historic Waco Hippodrome, built
in 1914 as a vaudeville theater.
Renovated with state-of-the-art
equipment in 2018, each theater
provides stunning picture quality
and great sound—not projectors
on bedsheets, like a few festivals
I’ve been to. Since all the screen-
ings take place in one location,
there’s no bouncing around
theaters all over town.
I had the privilege of seeing
Laron Chapman’s debut feature
You People, about a black college
student struggling to find his
identity after being raised by white
parents. My favorite shorts were
“Knowing,” about a janitor who
witnesses a horrific event and does
nothing, and “iRony,” by Perth
native Radheya Jegatheva, an ani-
mated tale about the perils of so-
cial media, told by a cell phone. It’s
based on a poem Jegatheva wrote
in high school... and it’s genius.
Everywhere you turn there’s
another mixer with delicious tacos,
barbecue, bacon-wrapped jalape-
ños, and lots of free alcohol. Deep
in the Heart Film Festival has been
so successful so soon thanks to the
support of the Waco community. It
feels like the whole city is rooting
for you. It’s amazing to see such a
conservative town championing
films with controversial and di-
verse subject matter. Bravo to Waco
and DITH for combining quality
films and southern charm in the
heart of Texas.
— Jason Walter Vaile MM76 SUMMER 2019 MOVIEMAKER.COM
L TO R: JULIA SWEENEY, MINDY STERLING, CHERI OTERI, RYAN GAUL, AND
JORDAN BLACK ACCEPT MAMMOTH LAKES FILM FESTIVAL 2019’S SIERRA SPIRIT
AWARD ON BEHALF OF THE RENOWNED COMEDY ORGANIZATION, THE GROUNDLINGS
THEATRE AND SCHOOLMOVIEMAKERS AND VIPS MIX AND MINGLE WITH DRINKS COURTESY OF BROTHERWELL
BREWING AND WACO WINERY AT DEEP IN THE HEART FILM FESTIVAL 2019